Just checking in, so haven't read all your pithy comments yet. Here are a couple of mine...
Whatever possessed the producers to open the show with Harry "Mr. Mild" Connick, Jr? Instead of a BRIGHT beginning, we get an astounding BLAH. Not a good indicator of what's to come. Overall, I'd say, the show seemed subdued with not much spontaneity or real excitement.
Best musical number - The Wedding Singer. Runners up - The Drowsy Chaperone and The Jersey Boys.
Best choreography of a musical number - The Wedding Singer.
Isn't Sutton Foster adorable?
The Hal Prince Tribute was disappointing. His speech was short and sweet but failed to connect probably because he was in Las Vegas and not actually on set. I'd love to have seen and heard him live in the theatre dispensing some of his wisdom from all those years in the theatre. A missed opportunity.
They should have let Richard Griffiths continue speaking because his was one of the very few acceptance speeches worth listening to.
The plays get such short shrift. Why even bother showing a one line sentence spoken from the nominated plays? It's depressing. I know they have time constraints but they could've gained time by dropping the silly bits from the presenters which are never funny. They could've also made some of the musical numbers shorter (Threepenny went on too long). I still remember from a long ago Tony Awards show a whole scene from Lettice & Lovage that was so wonderful I went out the next day and bought the play.
The Tonys never used to be like all the other awards shows. IMHO what it needs to distinguish itself from the others is for the producers to think locally, not globally. I've said this before...when Alexander Cohen and Hildy Parks produced and wrote the show, it was always exciting and memorable. Nevertheless, I l loved watching the show and will till I die.
Congratulations to all the winners and all the losers. You are in a noble profession and work hard...and with passion. No mean feat.